Family, tradition, and community are the key ingredients in Teddie Peanut Butter’s recipe for success
Celebrating a century of success, Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Hintlian, looks back on Teddie Peanut Butter’s cross-generational story of enterprise and endurance. “The company is turning 100 years old this year, which is an amazing achievement for everyone involved. It was founded by my grandfather, Michael, who came over to the US as an immigrant from Armenia. He was living and working in Boston at the time, and the business started out as a confectionery vendor, offering candied nuts and sweets,” he begins.
“A few years later, when the Great Depression had started, there was a spike in demand for affordable, nutrient rich, non-perishable foods like nuts. My grandfather saw an opportunity. He realized he could extend the shelf life of nuts by turning them into peanut butter – so that’s exactly what he did – addressing a critical need at that time, as well. 
“The company’s first home was in the Quincy Market area of Boston. It had several floors, where the raw materials started at the top floor, and on subsequent floors they were processed and packaged by the time they got to the first floor, where the final products were ready for shipping. Sixty-five years ago, we moved to a larger location in Everett, on the outskirts of Boston, expanded the original operation but remained true to our industrious roots.
“The name ‘Teddie’ was established around the same time. As the story goes, there was an operations manager, whose son was called Teddie. When they came up with a name for the product, he suggested it be named after his son. It sounded approachable and fun, and so they decided to keep it. One hundred years later, we still go by Teddie. It’s a nice reminder of the people who built the business, and got us where we are today,” Jamie details.
Tried-and-true recipe
Retaining simple recipes and classic tastes, Teddie Peanut Butter adapts its core product offering to meet the needs of contemporary consumers. As Jamie discusses: “Our flagship product is the 16-ounce glass jar of all-natural peanut butter, which we now sell coast to coast, in every state in the union. We’ve expanded the product line to include a range of natural peanut butter products.
“We offer a variety of sizes, the classic 16-ounce, the 26-ounce, and the family size 36-ounce jar. We also offer the larger sizes in special value twin packs. In terms of the product itself, we have the classic peanut butter range, a no-salt option, which is 100 percent pure ground peanuts, and a salted version. We offer all of those in chunky and smooth. Our chunky peanut butter is very well known, we call it super chunk, because the chunks are roasted and chopped in-house – so when we say ‘Super Chunky’ we mean it!
“To diversify our offering and cater to the health food markets, we also offer an organic version as well as flaxseed and omega-3 products. They’ve been very popular. Over time, we’ve tried to keep our core range as consistent as possible, while giving it enough variety to appeal to modern day consumers.
“There’s a lot of nostalgia tied to our product offering, so we like to ensure that our classic peanut butters are always available. When it comes to research and innovation, we often look around the product, as well as in it. For instance, we’ve trialed peanut butter pouches and squeezy tubes, which are suitable for on-the-go, in addition to a range of alternative nut butters.
“Our current focus is optimizing the packaging, so we can deliver our tried-and-true recipe to consumers in more innovative and convenient ways. We’re also considering how to adapt our product range to a wider variety of different markets and consumer bases,” he adds.
High safety standard
All Teddie Peanut Butter products are manufactured at one centralized location, just outside the company’s hometown in Boston. As Jamie reveals: “We moved into our current manufacturing facility in 1960, so it’s been our home for a long time. We’ve expanded the factory over the years, adding more production space, warehousing capacity, more efficient processing equipment, and so on. We’ve maximized the footprint of our current location, but we’re still able to do everything on-site.
“It’s a real hub of activity. We have our manufacturing, research and development, processing, packaging, shipping and receiving, and management teams all working together under one roof. We’ve continued to invest in streamlining our operations, ensuring we can keep everything united and cohesive.
“We recently invested in new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology. This essentially runs all our core functions, including finance, marketing, sales, logistics, quality control, and production. Our management team is taking full advantage of the data it provides to more effectively oversee the operation and day-to-day activities.
“The data also helps to develop key insights, allowing us to maintain a very high standard of food safety. We aim to not only be compliant but go above and beyond the industry standard. When operating out of a single location, productivity is crucial, so we’ve made investments in different unit operations to provide safety and reliability on all fronts.
“Our top priority is of course the safety of our people. We have a lot of heavy industrial machinery always on-the-go, so it’s vital we have complete oversight to protect people and ensure a safe working environment.”
No compromise on consistency
With a century of success under its belt, the Teddie team now looks to the future. As Jamie reflects: “One of our executives likes to say that Teddie is a 100-year-old startup. That’s something I really believe in. We’re very conscientious about growth. We’ve built something that has endured, we provide a safe, happy working environment for our staff, and we have a consistent, loyal customer base.
“As of right now the business is all in one place. We all work together towards a shared goal. In the coming years, we’re looking forward to strategic growth, alongside trade partners who understand our vision, purpose and working culture. Wherever this takes us, the most important thing is to maintain the quality of our product and remain true to who we are. There’s no compromise on consistency,” he concludes.